Utley to have sore ribcage examined

Cincinnati Reds' Shin-Soo Choo (17) steals second base in front of Philadelphia Phillies' Chase Utley (26) in the first inning of a baseball game on Saturday, May 18, 2013, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Michael Perez)

“I think it was the smart thing to do. You want to be careful with these things because it can linger and get worse if you try to play through it. I think we caught it early enough, but it’s hard to tell until we have more information.”

The Phillies aren’t ready to declare Utley the latest veteran to hobble onto the disabled list, but considering the cautious nature teams usually take with rib cage and oblique injuries, anything considered more than a cramp is usually a 15-day respite.

“We’re not going to speculate until we have our doctors examine him,” assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said. “We have an off day (Thursday) and a night game Friday, and everyone (on the upper-level minor-league squads) is nearby, so we won’t have a problem getting someone here if we need to.”

Considering the Phils have Freddy Galvis to play every infield position and Kevin Frandsen with the capability of playing second or third, the Phils shouldn’t be anchored to a middle-infield option. Yes, shortstop Cesar Hernandez is hitting a team-high .320 with 12 stolen bases for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but the 23-year-old likely would largely watch from the pine while Jimmy Rollins and Galvis man the middle infield.

“He’s playing and doing good,” Manuel said of Hernandez. “I don’t know if we want to bring him and sit him on the bench.”

The more likely candidate is Darin Ruf, who is hitting .263 with five homers for the IronPigs. His power numbers haven’t been there. Then again, Ruf only had two homers in his first 116 plate appearances in Reading last season. He finished 2012 with 38 homers in the minors and another three with the Phils in September.

The Phillies also have a pair of games in Boston next week, where a designated hitter can be used. Employing someone who can actually hit would help.

“It would be somebody from Triple-A probably,” Manuel said. “We’ll see who it’ll be.”

As for Utley, he doesn’t even know how to gauge what the pain means. It’s a first for him.

“I don’t have anything to compare it to. I never have had anything like this before. (Thursday) we’ll have the MRI to check the severity of it and sit down with (team doctor Michael) Ciccotti and see what he has to say. Until we have that information, it’s hard to predict.

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In slightly better news on the injury front, Mike Adams had his timetable stepped up by a day. The right-hander, on the 15-day D.L. with back spasms, threw off the mound Wednesday afternoon instead of the original play for him to throw Thursday in Clearwater, Fla. Depending on how he feels coming out of the mound session, Adams could pitch in an extended spring game Friday, which would make him available in the Phils’ bullpen in Washington Sunday, which is the first day he’s eligible to be activated.

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The Phillies announced that pitcher Curt Schilling will be inducted into the team’s Wall of Fame in a ceremony at Citizens Bank Park Aug. 1. Schilling went 101-78 with a 3.35 ERA in nine seasons with the Phils and 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA for his career. His induction likely was slowed by ill feelings between him and the organization when he forced a trade out of town in 2000. Schilling has spent his post-playing career starting a failed video-game company and working as an analyst for ESPN. In his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, the right-hander received 38.8 percent of the vote.